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Chockstone Forum - Accidents & Injuries

Report Accidents and Injuries

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Blue Mountains Accident 21/12/13
Isildur
21-Dec-2013
12:35:08 PM
Just heard this in the radio, anyone have more info? My thoughts and condolences are with those affected.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-21/abseiling-accident-in-blue-mountains/5171036
jennyband
21-Dec-2013
4:08:25 PM
i've been looking for more information on this as well. Has anyone heard anything? i was abseiling there last week.

Sabu
21-Dec-2013
4:10:46 PM
Another link below. Thinking of the family and friends of those involved, especially at this time of year.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/12/21/14/38/abseiler-dies-in-the-blue-mountains

jennyband
21-Dec-2013
5:30:13 PM
police information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM_cgLXNSPc#t=83

jennyband
21-Dec-2013
6:31:55 PM
I've just heard from a local guide i climb with who spoke to another guide who was at the scene at the accident. Not gospel, but much better than hearsay.

- the man who fell and died set up his abseil with a big knot of two ropes tied together, planning on abseiling on one, and accidentally clipped into the wrong side and fell.

I was climbing at Boars Head last Saturday so i was particularly interested in what went wrong. Reminds us all the be safe and check our equipment/setups very very carefully. Thoughts are with the families, especially at Christmas.

E. Wells
21-Dec-2013
8:26:47 PM
How Bizzare. I thought that the girl had her ropes wrapped around the teatrees and didn't swing in left enough for the landing spot so continued down, then she was lower than the clusterf#ck in the teatrees and it was all a bit awkward for her to untangle , then he simply leant over forgetting that he wasn't clipped into anything and quite simply fell...clearing the landing zone and down into the gully beside second and third pitches..but hey. This came from a mates mates dogs dentist.

snowkiwi
22-Dec-2013
1:50:41 PM
Much as I'm very curious so as to avoid this in future, my condolences go to all involved, their families and friends, especially at Christmas.
PThomson
23-Dec-2013
9:39:56 AM
I was up at Narrowneck when this went down, and got bogged down in the Police Rescue bottleneck on Cliff Dr while exiting. I'd *heard* more or less the same story as Evan, but as there was a lot of confusion on the day it wouldn't surprise me if it was misinformation.

I'll be interested to find out what exactly happened. Sounds like the bloke was reasonably experienced (even if his missus wasn't).

Regards,

-Paul
mikllaw
24-Dec-2013
7:38:16 AM
more conflicting detail
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/how-my-climbing-hero-died-the-girlfriend-of-abseiler-darren-bull-recalls-his-fatal-fall/story-fni0cx12-1226789104892

E. Wells
24-Dec-2013
8:52:03 AM
Reading this latest article it seems likely that he may have clipped in to the knot strand whilst trying to rap on one line...scary stuff as I do this 'stuck knot' thing sometimes but I guess that routine of checks is what its about. As he was alone up there I guess the finer details will remain a mystery. Im glad his girlfriend cleared up the 'recuing maiden in distress' thing. Media love to put a tasty (patronizing) twist on stories hey?!
martym
24-Dec-2013
11:47:09 AM
On 24/12/2013 E. Wells wrote:
>Reading this latest article it seems likely that he may have clipped in
>to the knot strand whilst trying to rap on one line...scary stuff as I
>do this 'stuck knot' thing sometimes but I guess that routine of checks
>is what its about. As he was alone up there I guess the finer details will
>remain a mystery. Im glad his girlfriend cleared up the 'recuing maiden
>in distress' thing. Media love to put a tasty (patronizing) twist on stories
>hey?!

I saw a newspaper article with pictures of him at Bangor I think; and a report from a 14 year old in America "tweeting" about him being a camp counsellor over there... From the sounds of it he had experience so something just went wrong.
Seems we'll have to wait a few years for a coroners report - and even then it's unlikely we'll really find out. Just a tragedy for everyone. Imagine retrieving a dead adventurer just before Christmas holidays. Stay safe everyone.
mikllaw
24-Dec-2013
2:59:43 PM
martym, we don't ever seem to get coroners reports. Maybe the police prepare a report for the coroner, and the coroner anly goes inot action if there is doubt over the cause of death? Maybe we should trya nd get the police reports?
patto
24-Dec-2013
3:56:11 PM
On 24/12/2013 E. Wells wrote:
>but I guess that routine of checks is what its about

That and weighting the system properly before removing your safety.

Miguel75
24-Dec-2013
4:19:02 PM
On 24/12/2013 martym wrote:
>Just a tragedy for everyone.
>Imagine retrieving a dead adventurer just before Christmas holidays. Stay
>safe everyone.

That certainly would suck though body retrieval at any time is generally no bueno.

EDIT - As Mikl suggested earlier, I believe the coroner only gets involved if the cause of death is unknown/suspicious... I'm pretty sure they know what the cause of death is in this circumstance.

E. Wells
24-Dec-2013
7:34:58 PM
Quite a hard anchor to weight before removing safety actually (still possible though), it seems as though it was a standard retrievable system (maybe no joining knot) and he simply clipped one strand through ATC. Apparently a common occurrence.
braedenh88
24-Dec-2013
9:27:21 PM
Sadly ive met this fella before.
earlier in november he came down to gramps/araps on uni trip from newcastle part of his quals training and I spent a day with them.
darren seemed like a great guy with a lot of potentional and very enthusiastic about learning about climbing.
this is a harsh reminder for all and especially those new in learning that these activities are ultimatly dangerous, so be vigilant in your learning and find some old mountain goat who might tare your ear off but will teach you good practices and stay alive.
thoughts are with darrens family and girlfriend and friends.
Pleasure to have met you
kieranl
24-Dec-2013
10:14:52 PM
On 24/12/2013 Miguel75 wrote:
>That certainly would suck though body retrieval at any time is generally
>no bueno.
>
>EDIT - As Mikl suggested earlier, I believe the coroner only gets involved
>if the cause of death is unknown/suspicious... I'm pretty sure they know
>what the cause of death is in this circumstance.
This would probably differ slightly between states but generally unexpected deaths such as this would have to be reported to the coroner. The coroner would then seek to make findings as to the person's identity and cause of death among other things. This could be fairly straightforward or could involve an inquest
You should be able to apply for access to any coronial findings. Look on the Coroner's court website for your state.
FatCanyoner
25-Dec-2013
10:12:55 AM
Yep, the police report will definitely go to the coroner. The coroner will make a decision -- based on those facts -- as to whether an inquest in warranted. While us outdoor types would appreciate it, especially for the potential to learn what went wrong and to improve practices, my gut feeling is there won't be one in this case. A couple years ago a 16 year old boy died while canyoning with his brothers and friends near Mt Wilson. They overshot the exit to Wollangambe 1, got lost, ended up on the wrong side of the river, and weren't found for a couple days due to bad weather. He died not long before they were found when a rock fell on him. After about 18 months of waiting for an inquest I asked around and discovered the coroner has quietly decided not to do one, in a large part because of the pain it would cause the family (his brothers were running the trip). It seems that unless a school / club / commercial operator / emergency services error / etc is involved in a bush death, it doesn't usually result in an inquest. I'm not sure, but I think the coroners findings -- even when no inquest occurs -- do become public documents. That would include the police report. We'll just have to wait a year or two...
pok
28-Dec-2013
3:59:09 PM
On 24/12/2013 braedenh88 wrote:
>earlier in november he came down to gramps/araps on uni trip from newcastle

Just interested in a clarification- I'm in the Newcastle uni mountaineering club and I know how strict they are on training for abseiling. Was Darren in gramps/araps as part of a uni trip? I don't believe I've seen him around the club. It would be a terrible hit much closer to home if he was.
onsight
5-Jan-2014
1:01:50 PM
I've heard, fairly reliably, that he had threaded his rope through the anchor for retrieval as normal, but then had only connected one of the two rope ends to his rap device. The earlier reporting that his girlfriend had first gotten into trouble is false.

My condolences to his family and friends.

There are 20 messages in this topic.

 

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